Burns OT winner bails out
SharksSJ avoids a 3rd loss to Arizona this
season

11/29/16 - By Mike Lee -

The Arizona Coyotes entered Tuesday night's game
against the Sharks with the worst record in the Western Conference. With only 8
wins this season, the Coyotes should have been easy picking for the Sharks, but
San Jose had lost both meeting with Arizona this season, including an overtime
loss to the Coyotes last week. Arizona almost kept things close and could have
made it a third win over San Jose this season if not for an overtime tally by
Brent Burns.

The Sharks haven't been able to figure out how to beat
the Coyotes, who haven't beaten many teams this season not name San Jose. The
visiting Coyotes played a nice road game, keeping things simple and tight.

San Jose looked as befuddled in this one as they did in their two
previous losses to Arizona. The game was sluggish, and lacking much in terms of
flow, which is exactly the style Arizona needed to pull off a win. The Sharks
just didn't have much fire after an early goal was overturned.

Patrick
Marleau bagged the would be first goal of the game a minute into the game when
his shot tucked under the crossbar on a partially deflected shot, but Coyotes
coach Dave Tippett challenged that Brendan Dillon was off side. There didn't
appear to be any clear indication that Dillon was across the blueline early,
but referee Jean Hebert announced that the tally was negated to the dismay of
the porous SAP Center crowd.

San Jose didn't officially record a shot
for the first 7 minutes of the game, but then they went on a rampage, pumping
13 shots on Coyotes goaltender Mike Smith. Unfortunately for San Jose, Smith
was on his game in that opening frame, denying everything San Jose sent his
way.

Joel Ward was whistled for hooking Michael Stone for the only
penalty of the period. Arizona didn't do much with the chance and only
generated 5 shots in the period combined.

Arizona lulled the Sharks to
sleep in the 2nd period, allowing the Sharks to generate a bushel of harmless
shots, before striking with a Max Domi goal at 7:19 of the period. The Sharks
two defenseman had a pair of Coyote forwards covered on the right side, and
when Domi slipped past a Sharks line change, there was only open space between
him and Martin Jones. Domi skated in an snapped a shot inside the left post for
the 1-0 lead.

Chris Tierney knotted the game at 1-1 with 4:31
remaining in the period by crashing the net from the right corner and jamming a
shot between Smith's pads for his 2nd goal of the season. Tierney had Joonas
Donskoi perched on the off wing, but elected to force the issue in tight, which
turned out to be the right decision. San Jose has a tendency to try and force
the pretty pass instead of keeping things simple. Tierney's simple approach
potted the Sharks the equalizer, which allowed them to head to the final period
tied.

The 3rd period turned into a chippy affair, rather than the
focused frame you would expect in a tied game. Things escalated when former
Shark Jamie McGinn and Kevin Labanc mixed it up in front of the San Jose bench.
That turned into a series of scrums that included Dillon and Christian Dvorak.

Dillon added to his forgetful night with 8 minutes to
play when he tried throwing a pick in the offensive zone that turned into a 2
minute Coyotes power play. The Sharks penalty kill snuffed out the Arizona
chance with strong back-checking.

Martin Hanzal committed a major gaff
with three tenths of a second left in regulation when he clipped Melker
Karlsson with a high stick that setup a full time power play to start the
overtime period.

Burns elected to use a small fraction of that
allotment by rifling a Joe Pavelski pass that whistled past Smith for the game
winner. Burns was setup at the top of the left circle and received Pavelski's
pass as the Sharks captain skated away from the left wing boards toward the
blueline. Pavelski dropped the puck back to Burns with a no look pass, which
may have drawn Smith over to the right side of the net enough to allow Burns
shot to find the hole to Smith's stick side.

Game
Notes:

* Oliver Ekman-Larsson left the game in the 2rd period with
an undisclosed lower body injury.

* Mike Smith entered the game with a
career 1.66 goals against average against San Jose. The Sharks can't seem to
get pucks past the big goaltender.

* Patrick Marleau was undoubtedly
the most active Sharks forward all night, as was evident by his 7 shots on
goal. Marleau should have ended the evening with a goal to show for his effort.

* Luke Schenn lead all skaters with 9 hits in the game. That accounted
for 33% of the Coyotes hits.

* Melker Karlsson returned to the lineup
after missing 7 games after injuring himself blocking a shot earlier in
November.

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